special holiday, need help

[ilovetochat]

i need to book a special holiday for october for dp's special birthday.
dd will be 2.3 and never been abroard.
dp fancies a cruise, maybe med, book they seem very expensive and i don't want a long flight.
i'm thinking maybe a nice hotel or villa in portugal (dp loves it) or canaries.
any recomendations?
or advice?

What is your budget?

But remember a cruise is all inclusive with the exception of drink so it might look expensive from the outset but once on board it costs very little.

i'm a sahm so i would be using my savings so realistically about £1500. wanted to go for 10 days.

What about a bit of both? Get a cheap flight to Malaga (short flight) and book a cheap hotel (try medhotels or similar) then take a 5 night cruise Like this one which is £775 for the 3 of you and return back to uk from malaga?

good idea baublerock.
i have just been looking at lots of cruise sites and reviews and mainly they say more suitable for kids 3 and over and the meal times are late so i'm not sure they are that family friendly.
have been looking at nice hotels in algarve and also the canaries as i'd like somewhere warm in october.
thomson platinum hotels are nice but the reviews aren't all great.

update, we have booked a week in a hotel at pollensa mallorca and then a week's cruise round the med, have gone way over budget as dp decided he wanted a suite with a balcony etc but you only live once eh.

with regards to safety, what do i do about dd while on the coach transfers, do we have to take car seat or are they ordered?
on cruises where you have a balcony are they safe for toddlers?